Abstract or Table of Contents

The citizens of Hellas voted on the 17th of June for the second time. The first round of national elections on the 6th of May revealed a fragmented party scene and a reluctance to form a coalition government. One might think that the Greek politicians behaved irrationally then by risking to leave the country headless in the middle of the crisis. However, quite the opposite is true. The party leaders weighed primarily their short-term gains and losses from consenting to a coalition government. Neither PASOK (until recently a major force) nor DIMAR (a breakaway fraction of SYRIZA) wanted to form a government with the conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) without the participation of the main winner of the elections, SYRIZA. Both of them argued that a parliamentary majority would not guarantee much and a government without SYRIZA would be short-lived. Their estimation was not wrong, and it applies as much then as it does now. What they forgot to say publicly, though, is that if PASOK and DIMAR agreed to a government intending to continue the austerity programme while SYRIZA continued to play Mr. Niceguy, their parties would probably vanish in the next elections whereas SYRIZA would triumph.